Ed West in Budapest: most Brits sympathise with the Hungarian government

According to Ed West, author, journalist, blogger, deputy editor of UnHerd, and former columnist for The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator, the boundaries between opinions and news content are increasingly blurred in the media.

British journalist Ed West arrived in Hungary for the Mathias Corvinus Collegium Conference on the Freedom of Expression in the Digital Age. During the two-day event, many internationally renowned journalists have shared their thoughts on current topics, such as the role of social media in the press and the challenges of journalism in the digital age.

“Commenting is free, but facts are sacred”

According to Ed West, the achievements of the digital age have a significant impact on journalism. Nowadays, there is a big competition in sharing new information. Everyone wants to be the fastest, and the quality of the news shared on social media is not controlled. The boundaries between opinions and news content are blurred in the media, and journalism has become emotionally loaded. Emotions generate more significant feedback. Serious publications are constantly disappearing, so journalists have to adapt and change their tone.

Hungarian politics

Ed West explained to Index that it is difficult to obtain objective information about the political situation in Hungary. The British media has generally labelled Orbán as a dictator; therefore, the opposition must be helped to win and restore democracy.

“Viktor Orbán cannot be a good dictator if the opposition has a chance to win next year’s election,” adds the journalist.

Perhaps Tibor Fischer is the only one who writes positively about Hungary in his articles in The Daily Telegraph, but other British newspapers lack a nuanced approach and do not assess Viktor Orbán’s policies in detail.

Nonetheless, the journalist believes that the majority of British people sympathise with the Hungarian government’s migration policy, for example.

“I am sure that many people are antipathetic towards the West forcing its opinion on Hungarians and Polish people. Many people believe that it is right for a country to adhere to its opinion.”

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Unlike the British conservatives, who are trying to slow progress but have accepted that change is inevitable, Viktor Orbán is not afraid to take the necessary steps to win, even if these steps sometimes appear tasteless, explains Ed West. As a Western Conservative, he believes that Hungary and Poland should be allowed to follow an alternative path so that we can see whether this path leads to success or not.

“If Hungary does not become a dictatorship in 10 years – as the Western media implies – and will be a successful country where there is no significant immigration, people are satisfied with their lives, and homosexual teenagers do not commit mass suicide, I think everything is fine.”

Source: index.hu, mcc.hu